Preneed: A Pandora's Box of Problems

William Stalter is the founder of Stalter Legal Services and the Preneed Resource Company. Bill focuses his law practice on preneed and death care compliance, serving banks, funeral homes, crematories, and cemeteries. He has written multiple published articles

Tag Archives: NPS

By Bill Stalter on March 15, 2015 Posted in Compliance,Investments,Missouri - SB1,NPS/LincolnNow that a judgment has been rendered against Allegiant Bank, the NPS litigation will move on to the appeal stage where the focus will be on R.S.Mo. Section 436.031. The NPS trustees universally argued that this provision of the Missouri preneed statute relieved them of all responsibility and liability for investment supervision. As set out… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on March 1, 2015 Posted in Compliance,Fiduciary,Missouri - SB1,NPS/LincolnThe Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC) supervises the fiduciary activities of national chartered banks, and in February, updated the guidelines used by its examiners. The “Personal Fiduciary Activities” booklet includes a section on pre-acceptance due diligence that fiduciaries should conduct before agreeing to serve as trustee for an account. Page 7… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on February 21, 2015 Posted in Fiduciary,Missouri - SB1,NPS/LincolnThe NPS civil trial has completed its third week, and jurors probably face another four weeks of witness testimony. First from the NPS receiver, and then from the defendant trustees, the jurors are hearing two very contrasting theories of what fiduciary duties were owed by the NPS trustees. Up until a few weeks before the… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on February 2, 2015 Posted in NPS/LincolnThe National Prearranged Services civil trial is scheduled to begin this week, and trial briefs have been filed with the Court. The briefs outline the arguments that each party plans to prove during the course of the trial. It is our understanding that the Special Deputy Receiver has settled with all defendant trustees except Allegiant… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on January 11, 2015 Posted in Administration,Compliance,Investments,NPS/LincolnA recent order issued by the Federal Court trying the NPS civil suit referenced a mirror trust employed by the defendant bank (12-31-14 Order – Comerica MSJ ). To facilitate the trading of investment securities, a brokerage account is established with a firm that can administer the transactions more efficiently than the fiduciary institution. The fiduciary… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on January 6, 2015 Posted in Associations,Investments,Master Trusts,NPS/LincolnIt is common for master preneed trusts to have investments directed by an independent fund manager. The pooling of smaller trusts allows funeral directors to achieve the critical mass needed to engage professional asset management. When investment functions are delegated, the trustee typically wants to be relieved of the supervision and liabilities that accompany those… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on December 18, 2014 Posted in Fiduciary,Missouri - SB1,NPS/Lincoln,UncategorizedAttorneys are currently arguing this issue before a Federal court in St. Louis. While the NPS civil trial does not begin for another six weeks, both the SDR and the defendant trustees want to resolve the question of who is a beneficiary of a preneed trust under Missouri law. The SDR is arguing that all… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on December 15, 2014 Posted in NPS/LincolnIn August, litigants to the NPS civil trial were required to file expert opinion reports with the court. Initially, there were essentially 8 defendant banks, and most had retained one or more experts to testify at trial. As a consequence, a plethora of expert reports were filed with the court. Many of the experts offered… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on December 9, 2014 Posted in NPS/Lincoln,UncategorizedRandall K. Sutton, former President and CEO of National Prearranged Services, died in prison on December 8th. Accordingly to pleadings filed in the NPS criminal and civil lawsuits, Mr. Sutton played a central role in the company’s operations. Another pivotal player in the Cassity schemes, Howard Wittner, was recently released from Federal prison so that… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on November 12, 2014 Posted in NPS/Lincoln,UncategorizedOver a three day span beginning December 17th, a Federal court in St. Louis will hear legal arguments from the NPS special deputy receiver and from banks that served as NPS trustees at some point during the past 30 some years. Initial legal briefs have been filed, and response briefs will be filed. The arguments… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on October 31, 2014 Posted in NPS/Lincoln,UncategorizedOur prior blog post discussed the NPS Special Deputy Receiver’s motion for a ruling on two crucial legal issues. Doug Cassity was appalled that the SDR would attempt such an unbelievable slight of hand on the Federal court, and filed his own response. According to Mr. Cassity, the SDR has cited the court to the… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on October 28, 2014 Posted in Compliance,Investments,Master Trusts,NPS/LincolnIn a motion for rulings of law, the NPS Special Deputy Receiver seeks a judicial determination of two legal issues that could impact preneed trustees subject to the jurisdiction of the Eighth Circuit of Federal Court of Appeals: the beneficiary status of preneed purchasers (and funeral homes) and the required independence of investment advisors. These two… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on October 22, 2014 Posted in UncategorizedIn anticipation of a February trial date, a group from the fiduciary bank defendants has filed a motion for summary judgment in the Federal court that will try the NPS civil lawsuit. The intent of the summary judgment request is to narrow the scope of claims made by the Special Deputy Receiver. The pleadings filed… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on August 21, 2014 Posted in UncategorizedThe remaining members of the Cassity clan have filed motions in opposition to the dismissal of Doug Cassity from the NPS civil lawsuit. Rhonda Cassity and Tyler Cassity argue that they too are the victims of Doug’s scheming and fraudulent conduct, and that good ole’ Dad should be compelled to testify, and held accountable. The plan… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on August 9, 2014 Posted in NPS/Lincoln,UncategorizedBetter to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. Abraham Lincoln Pleading by pleading, the Cassitys are speaking out against injustice. Brent Cassity followed his father’s lead, and filed a motion to dismiss from the civil lawsuit against NPS’ former management and trustees. The younger Cassity made a hodge… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on July 29, 2014 Posted in NPS/Lincoln,UncategorizedDoug Cassity has filed a motion to modify the order dismissing him from the SDR’s civil lawsuit. Mr. Cassity asserts that he and his family should be freed of the reign of terror and wrongdoing of the Texas regulators and their attorneys. Seeking a dismissal with prejudice, Mr. Cassity seeks to have the SDR’s claims dropped permanently… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on January 18, 2014 Posted in NPS/Lincoln,PreneedNow that Doug and the gang have been processed into the Federal prison system, the Special Deputy Receiver should consider negotiating a deal with the National Geographic Channel about dedicating a season of Lockdown to the NPS preneed gang. Instead of that boring medical facility in Louisville, Doug and Brent have been assigned to two… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on December 12, 2013 Posted in Missouri - SB1The Dead Beat recently published a letter from a Missouri funeral home operator that was critical of the ‘handling of the NPS debacle’ by the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors. The operator questioned how the Board could ‘allow’ his firm to sign official documents requiring that NPS contracts be honored. The official… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on November 14, 2013 Posted in NPS/Lincoln,PreneedThe St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the sentencing hearing for Doug Cassity will be held today. Originally scheduled for November 7th, the hearing was postponed when additional pleadings were filed with the Federal court. Mr. Cassity continues to dispute the extent of the damages caused by his actions. As we noted in a prior… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on September 22, 2013 Posted in NPS/LincolnThe Cassity shell game may have came to an end this past week when aFederal judge ordered the seizure of NPS computers and 260 bankers boxes of records. Taking a page from a Six Feet Under script, NPS officers sought to conceal their misdeeds by hiding records and computers in crypts located at two of… Continue Reading

By Bill Stalter on September 19, 2013 Posted in NPS/LincolnI have only scanned Doug Cassity’s plea agreement once, but two issues jumped out from that document. The plea agreement is based on the US Sentencing Guidelines, and Page 28 of agreement explains that the Government and the defendant did not agree as to whether guidelines relating to economic losses should be applicable to Mr.… Continue Reading